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Sports Commentary 6/11/13

Something this senseless can make so much sense it’s silly. The Patriots yesterday agreed to a contract with quarterback Tim Tebow, who was unceremoniously cut by Jets after a season in New York where he couldn’t even unseat the very unseatable incumbent, Mark Sanchez. But the question that always surrounded Tebow’s failure in green and white was, was it Tebow’s failing, or was it the failing of the Jets coaching staff? Did Rex Ryan and company really put an effort into developing a quarterback they were saddled with as a sideshow to steal the back pages from the Giants so that he could replace the quarterback Ryan hitched his wagon to for three seasons? Was it less failure by Tebow and more sabotage by Ryan? We’ll probably never know, but now we may get a chance to see just what there is to Tim Tebow. Bill Belichick doesn’t suffer fools or waste roster spots lightly and he isn’t told what to do, by Patriots owner Robert Kraft or anyone else. There’s always a method to the madness conjuring up under the hood of that dilapidated sweatshirt and it’s certain he’s a man with a plan. Belichick is a defensive guy. On offense he puts a lot of faith in his coordinator, Josh McDaniels, who happened to be the head coach of the Denver Broncos when they drafted Tebow out of college. McDaniels is also a hands on guy, a noted developer of quarterbacks who believed in Tebow at that position and was personally working with him, believing he could make him NFL caliber. He didn’t get the chance. He was fired before Tebow ever started a game, leading to the question, was he ever properly developed? Could he be given a new life under McDaniel? McDaniel obviously believes so, enough to convince Belichick to give it a shot. The Pats are telling NFL insiders that Tebow will be a quarterback, which puts him third on the depth chart behind Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett. The Pats released third string quarterback Mike Kafka yesterday. Unlike Mark Sanchez in New York, Tom Brady won’t be looking over his shoulder at Mallett, let alone Tebow. Unlike in New York, where Ryan was the ringmaster of a franchise sanctioned circus designed to steal headlines from the Giants, Tebow won’t be at the center of any such shenanigans under the stoic Belichick, before whom the Boston media corps obediently bows and scrapes. Since his arrival in New York Ryan has made no secret of his desire to unseat the Patriots in the AFC East, particularly to unseat their head coach as the master of the divisional domain. New England just won another round. If Tebow does nothing other than stand on their sideline in a Patriots uniform he will be in the Jets heads when they go head up. Tebow is young enough, and there’s no hurry in Foxboro, where Brady has at least three good years left in him, that if McDaniel is right, and is successful in developing him, it becomes the best case scenario for the Pats. If it turns out Tebow isn’t a quarterback but can use his size and agility at another position, even if it’s as a blocking back or a returner on special teams, just as well. Or there may be enough there to just develop him into something marketable enough to bring some of those possessions Belichick treasures most of all, draft picks. No other team in the NFL even toyed with the idea of signing Tebow, who’s only offer came from an indoor team, the idea was that silly. So silly that, in the right place, it actually makes sense. With a comment from the sports world, I’m Scott Gray.